person walking in front of Fell Hall

As the 2019-2020 school year comes to an unusual end, the School of Communication continues to celebrate academic excellence among its students through awards and scholarshipsThe school is immensely proud of its bright and dedicated Redbirds.  

Typically, all awards and scholarships are presented during the school’s annual COM Week celebration; however, because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, other plans are being made. “We will have a ceremony in the next academic year that will give us the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of our talented students with their families and our donor families, said Steve Hunt, professor and executive director of the School of Communication.  

Each award and scholarship provides its own unique value to the School and its students. “First, the scholarships reflect a profound commitment to the finest communication education by our donors,” said Hunt. “In addition, the scholarships help our students defray some of the costs of college and facilitate their timely matriculation through our programs. Also, the scholarships are a powerful way for us to recruit prospective students,” Hunt added 

Besides the obvious financial help, there are a variety of other benefits scholarships offer to studentsWhen donors commit to financial support of the School and our students, they make their own degree more valuable. In other words, the more success we see as a School, the more valuable the degrees of all our alumni,” said Hunt.  

So, with great pride and enthusiasm for the success of our students and the tremendous support of our alumni that we in the School of Communication announce this year’s scholarship winners and award winners: 

The John Baldwin Leadership Endowed Scholarship 

  • Kellie Lanigan 

Mayor Judy Scholarship Fund 

  • Emily Deppermann 

Illinois Broadcasters Association Endowed Scholarship 

  • Chase Aulis 

Iola Stoops Juarez Endowed Journalism Scholarship 

  • Elizabeth Seils 
  • Kellie Foy 

The Martin F. Duffy Scholarship in Communication 

  • Anthony Ferretti 

The Doris Dungy Endowed Scholarship 

  • Martza  Navar-Lopez 

The Pantagraph Endowed Scholarship 

  • Savannah Weishaar 

Randy Salerno Endowed Memorial Scholarship 

  • Catrina Petersen 

The Vicki Lynn Kelley Broadcast Journalism Scholarship 

  • Annamarie Schutt 

Harry & Jo Thiel “Red Line” Scholarships 

  • Maia Huddleston 

Lloyd & Mary Watkins Endowed Communication Studies Scholarship Fund 

  • Robert Martinez 

WGLT Scholarships 

  • Cindy Le 
  • Darnysha Mitchell 
  • Jolie Sherman 

The Hendershott Love Scholarship Fund 

  • Gabrielle Cooke 

The Les Vann Scholarship Fund 

  • Grace Barbic 

The Carl Hulse Endowed Scholarship 

  • Grace Kinnicutt 

Outstanding Seniors 

  • Journalism – Grace Barbic 
  • Communication Studies – Coy Suprunowski 
  • Public Relations – Megan Pellock 
  • Mass Media – Eli Lawhorn 

WZND Leadership Awards 

  • Casey (Kathleen) Bridges 
  • Kacie Brown 

Graduate Awards 

  • Outstanding Graduate Student Award: Divine Narkotey Aboagye 
  • Outstanding Thesis Award: Alyssa Hernandez 
  • Outstanding New Graduate Alumni Award: Nikita Richards 
  • Outstanding Graduate Alumni Achievement Award: Dr. Scott Myers 
  • Outstanding GTA, Master’s Level: Mallorie Latora 
  • Outstanding GTA, Doctoral Level: Jillian Joyce Kaufmann  

For more information on the School of Communication awards and scholarships, visit our website 

Any story ideas or general feedback? Please contact Dr. Pete Smudde at psmudde@IllinoisState.edu.